Sunday, June 24, 2007

long time no post

Haven't posted because I have had a hard time getting signed in. Tried it on Internet Explorer this time and it worked.Lisa can you send the link for the houseboat? We lost our old e-mail with the link in it.We are looking forward to the trip and are desperately hoping for some warm sunny weather. It has been stormy cold and rainy here all month and we are sick of it. On the occasional nice days you can't go outside because of the mosquitoes.Tim passed his journeyman exam on Thursday and is now done school. He also passed his interprovincial exam on Friday. Now he gets a big raise.Sam has officially been accepted at the U of A and residence so will soon be set for next year.

Further

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Houseboat

For the houseboat here are a few things you need to bring for yourself, that they don't provide:Bath/beach towels; bedding/pillows/blanket;tea towels/dishclothsBinoculars, cards/games/books, CD's,fishing gear,hiking/walking shoes, insect repellentdeck chairs, flashlight and batteries, film and camera

They also do not provide a baking sheet and bathmat, but I will bring them.

We also need an axe/firewood and matches. We'll bring some firewood and our axe, but could Theresa and Geoff bring some firewood too, as I think we will need more than can bring. Of course, it will be for sale in Sicamous too. So if not room, not to worry.

It looks like boat has TV/VCR (surely they have ungraded to DVD by now?) So bring any movies that you might want to watch.

No dishwasher, so if 2 of us do a set after a meal, then that takes care of it. ( note: this includes everyone) (except me because I thought of it 1st, so don't need to do any) (snicker)

We leave between 8am-10am, and return sometime between 11am-3pm. (they assign the return time)

I just thought about drinking water, I am not sure.... Will call about that Any other questions?

Friday, June 15, 2007

Kelowna Trip

Just to add my two cents worth regarding the weekend. It was a lot of fun. I rented a car, and got upgraded to this SUV, which I liked because I was higher than in a car, but I am such a lousy parker I prefer a smaller vehicle, to park. And having inherited the Sivak short legs, the step up seemed pretty steep.

Lisa looked beautiful in her new dress, it was a thowback to the fifties with a very full skirt, and it had polka dots. And when she had the cap and gown on she did not look dorky, like some of the people there so another plus. It was interesting to meet some of the classmates that she has talked about over the last 4 years, of course none of them were anything like I imagined them. I was amazed at how many people have jobs at the Kelowna Hospital, which makes sense since most of them are from Kelowna.

The celebration supper was great, and the chocolate cake for dessertwas the piece de resistance. I don't care what some other people say, to me it is not a birthday unless there is chocolate cake.

Back to the old grind on Monday, the trip home was good, flight was on time, but still I am always exhausted on a travel day. so I came home and napped. Am working on my new accounts, well new/old, since I worked on them both before. I like it when I already know the people I work with, removes some of the awkwardness, especially since most of them I never see. All the work is done through email, telephone and instant messaging.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Graduation week in Kelowna

Lisa's big week is over and so everyone has gone home or back to work or school, as the case may be - except me of course, an advantage of retirement. The grad ceremonies were very nice, I thought - th RN one was maybe a bit long - because Lisa had to be there an hour early, so we had an hours sit before it began - it was in a church auditorium and luckily there were padded seats ( Jude and Al took books, but I just watched people)' The deal was quite warm and personal and enjoyed it. The UBCO affair included arts, fine arts, ed and social work as well as nursing, so thought it might be pretty lengthy but it was well organized and went quickly - the speakers were all excellent too. Aafter the business there we all came back here and had champagne, steaK AND CAKE - celebrating Jude and Al's b'days, the grad girl and Richards award. Poor Richard is in the middle of finals and had to keep running home to cram. All in all, it was a nice week and we all seemed to enjoy it.Laura called last night and she isn't able to go houseboating after all - for several reasons, all connected with the move - she is very disappointed, but says she just can't manage it. So who ever is down for prducing a meal with her, I will volunteer to help, unless there are 3 on another breakfast - Lisa will let me know. The Longs bought that house and are very please with it, but theirs has not sold yet in SL. It has been a pretty stressful time for her - moving is really a pain, but work is going well she said.It's been a bit cool here - both sun and clouds an some rain (but no hail, TBTG) I need to get out and weed and prune before the big boat trip. Am hoping it stays under 30 as it's so much easier to work when it's not sizzling!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Done

I wrote my RN exam this week, and graduated. Well, I actually graduated at the end of April, but had the ceremonies this week. 2, which may be one too many. I actually preferred the UBC-O one, as compared to the strictly nursing one, as I felt the nursing one went on for too long. I felt like shouting 'let's wrap this up then'. I may be the only nursing student who thought that, but would not have been the only person there who shared that opinion though. Plus, my nose was out of joint, I'll explain on the houseboat, just in case anyone else is reading this. The walls have ears.

It was awesome to have Jude and Al here. The 2 of them, and Richard and Mom cheerfully attended both ceremonies. Al, Jude, and I also went for respective massage and pedicures yesterday, which was ever so nice. And Jude, Al, and I each bought a pair of shoes over the weekend. Naturally. I'm wearing them right now, with my nightie on. Breaking them in.

Jude downloaded the pictures from Newfoundland and my grad onto Mom's computer, so next time i am there, I'll post some for all to see!

Exam was exhausting, 8 hours, excluding lunch. It felt like getting onto an Air Israel flight. Only clear waterbottles, escorted to the bathroom (par for the course in finals), but they asked someone to give them her headband while she was in the bathroom? Only pencils, and unwrapped erasers in the exam, no kleenex, gum wrappers, etc. And couldn't have jackets/sweaters on back of chairs, either wearing them, or underneath the seat. And one person came into the exam from lunch with a sandwich, she had to open it up and show them there was no contraband in it. Though how you would cheat on it, I don't know, as they were all questions like: You walk into a room and someone is showing X medical condition...4 options, all of which you'd do, within in seconds of each other, but there is one that is just the smallest bit more imperative. I prepared my self to feel ambivalent after writing...like 'who knows how I did?', so did not feel badly after, just very highstrung and worn out.

Richard is worn out too, but still has finals to write! That massage therapy school is high maintenance. He is reaalllyy looking forward to having some time off.

And Richard got the leadership award for his year!!!! I am very proud of him! He gets his name on the plaque which is up at the school and some money.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Book

I suggest 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' I laughed out loud reading it. And that doesn't happen very often. Laura has it, i borrowed it while she was here and read it before she did. It's about a British woman whose widower Dad (immigrated from Ukraine) marries a much younger woman, who seems to be looking for the British equivalent of a green card. Well worth reading.

Summer is Offcially Here

I don't care what the calendar says, this weekend, I sat on my balcony Saturday and Sunday morning, surrounded by my flowers in the pots, drinking my coffee. To me that makes it summer. The weekend was quiet, a trip to the Farmers Market, to pick up a few more plants, then just hanging around the house, doing some clean up and chasing pigeons from my balcony. I might have to try getting a fake owl to stand guard, apparently pigeons think they are real and then stay away.I have booked my flights and hotels for Hawaii, I land in Honolulu, and spend a night there, then the next day to Kauai, for 6 days. The trip is sandwiched inbetween the Calgray and Edmonton Folk Fests. Then I still have a week off, after the Edmonton FF. Life is good.Have finished with my last project, and gone back to Dana and Cigna. It is nice because I know all the people and means I will be around home for the summer. Then in the fall it is back to looking for somethig new. I had an IM from one of my nieces in Costa Rica, who is excited about my coming back, so that made me feel really good.Author - Jaqueline Winspear - set in London, during the early part of the century, starting just before the first world war. So far I am the only one putting any new authors on the blog. Come on you guys.Looking forward to this weekend and seeing Lisa receive her degree. The last four years seem to have gone by quickly. It will also be fun to go on the garden tour, may inspire some changes to my balcony.

Habitat for Humanity; Librarians Build

On Wednesday, I was part of a group from UALibraries that participated in the Women Build program at Habitat for Humanity. It was extremely fun! I helped install two windows and two doors, did some hammering and drilling, and a bunch of lifting. They are short supervisors, so there was a fair amount of time standing around, but it was very satisfying. This would be a fun Sivak event, I think. Especially those of us with actual building / installation skills.